


the wound (a place where light enters)

by SparkleMoose



Series: Various WoL in Eos [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: 30 noct timetravels to become 20 noct and drags the WoL with him, Dimension Travel, Eos is Hydaelyn, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Good Titus Drautos | Glauca, Multi-Classed Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Time Travel, feat my theories on what happens to the WoL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23888788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleMoose/pseuds/SparkleMoose
Summary: Noctis is done. He has saved the world at the cost of his life, he has brought dawn and life to a land made barren and he is done.Until he is not.Until he wakes up on a battlefield and sees a too familiar face staring back at him. A face he thought he would never see again.-Azura dies; light and dark eating away at her as she strikes down a man turned god. More blood on her hands, another death for the good of everyone.Fitting that her death ends the cycle isn't it?Azura dies, and when she wakes she's lacking horns and scales.Azura wakes, and she's once again on a battlefield.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Various WoL in Eos [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1371622
Comments: 17
Kudos: 99





	1. lightbringers

**Author's Note:**

> meet azura mol, ninja and white mage, usually on crystal. totally an alt i made for this story.
> 
> anyway, shes cute, shes gonna kiss Noctis. everything is good.

_A woman laughs at him, reaching up with a napkin to wipe buttercream frosting off of Noctis' nose._

_"Who knew princes could be so messy," she teases just to watch Noctis flush._

_"I'm not that bad," he protests despite the grin on his face, "I bet you're worse than I am."_

* * *

When Noctis dies, he does not expect to wake up again. His part in this play had been done, he had danced to the tune of Bahamut’s plans and now it was finally time to rest.

When Noctis dies, he does not regret his death. When Noctis dies, his biggest regret is leaving those he loves behind. 

And perhaps, in the end, that’s what makes a difference.

* * *

_Chosen_ , Garuda’s voice echoes in the endless dark, _Chosen._

 _What?_ Noctis asks, and in the dark his voice is tired, _What now?_

There is a pause, as though the goddess is considering something.

 _If we gave you the choice to go back,_ Leviathan’s voice is the sound of rushing tides and loud as a waterfall, _Would you take it?_

 _No._ Noctis thinks for once he should be selfish. No. I _’ve given enough haven’t I? Why should I go back?_

 _For those you had lost,_ Shiva says, voice sweet as winter, _For those you can yet save._

And Noctis thinks of Jared, he thinks of Clarus and Weskham, of those who did not survive the fall of Insomnia and he thinks of the countless number who died during the Long Night.

Mostly Noctis thinks of his father. He thinks of how Regis had always looked so sad when he stared at Noctis. He thinks about how his father gave the life of his city so that Noctis himself might live, might one day save their kingdom.

Noctis thinks of his friends, of his brothers, of those who had stood beside at the beginning and the end.

 _What could I change?_ Noctis asks. 

_Anything,_ Garuda says, _Anything at all._

Noctis stares at the shifting light of the Goddesses in front of him and realizes he can’t refuse them. Not out of loyalty to the Astrals’ but rather because he cannot let others suffer knowing that he could stop it.

 _Alright,_ Noctis says, shoulders heavy with the weight of a new burden, _Send me back._

* * *

Noctis feels nothing, there is a darkness around him. Soft and comforting as the night sky. He lays in that darkness for what feels like an age when it finally starts to fade to white. 

And Noctis starts to fall.

Dark fades to light and once again Noctis is consumed by it.

* * *

There is little fanfare when Noctis wakes up. He wakes up with a sharp stone digging into his back and magic swirling around him.

Someone is casting, is his first thought and it causes his eyes to open to a darkening sky as storm magic whirls in the air. He can feel the magic surge in the air around him and he pushes himself to his feet in one smooth movement.

The storm is a Kingsglaive tactic, Noctis knows, which means that he’s on a battlefield where the Glaive are active. For a moment, Noctis wonders why the Goddesses couldn’t have dropped him off somewhere nice.

Like his bed.

Then a Behemoth notices him and Noctis throws a sword into the air and warps to it. Reappearing above the Behemoth he twists midair and lets himself fall onto its back while his sword pierces the thick hide of the beasts neck and kills it. Before it falls to the ground, Noctis throws his sword again and warps to the top of a fallen pillar.

“Noctis?” A voice that he hasn’t heard in years comes from below him. Chancing a glance down, he finds familiar blue eyes staring up at him.

“Azura?” Noctis demands and takes note of her lack of horns and scales, “What happened to you?”

Azura laughs, strained but amused. “I came to help,” she tells him and Noctis’ heart skips a beat.

No, he thinks, I didn’t agree to this. I didn’t agree to anyone else getting involved. And as though she can Azura smiles at him.

“Don’t look so glum, Noct,” she says, “You’re my friend, the least I can do is help you.”

Noctis opens his mouth to protest, to tell her that it isn’t fair that she’s here when Azura’s eyes widen and she moves. A hand gets thrown out and three large boulders rip themselves out of the ground and slam into something behind Noctis.

Noctis spins on his heel just in time to see the Cerberus that was approaching him fall to the ground and dissipate. 

“You need better situational awareness,” Azura chides from her spot from where she warped next to Noctis, “Though I must say, your magic is a welcome gift to have back. I forgot how much fun warping was.”

Noctis laughs again, lighter than he felt before. “Come on, Azura, you used to hate it.”

Azura winks at him with a smile on her face. “That was before I found out how much fun it can be.” Her smile falls away as the wind picks up and she stares to the sky. “Your father’s men, they’re calling down a storm, yeah? We should take cover.”

Noctis nods and the two jump off the pillar and land behind the ruined wall next to it just in time for the winds to pick up and a tornado to land and pick up everyone not fortunate enough to find shelter.

Neither Azura nor Noctis wince as they hear the short lived screams of those lost to the wind. And yet over the chaos they can hear the sound of something large and heavy hitting the ground.

A glance is shared, the wind dies down and both Noctis and Azura step out from behind the wall. Noctis can almost feel how Azura’s eyes narrow as she stares at the Diamond Weapon, as she debates how to best take it down.

For his part, Noctis can feel his breath lodge itself in his throat. He knows where he is now, knows what the time frame of this is. A part of him wants to drag Azura away, to run from this and get back to Insomnia to tell his father about what is going to happen.

A larger part of him wants that thing dead. He wants it dead for what it dared do to his city, to his kingdom. He wants to feel it die by his hand, to feel his sword sink into it for every life it took when Insomnia fell.

Before either of them can do anything though, the shoulder plates on the weapon open and Azura asks Noctis one thing.

“Noctis,” Azura says, “If I can protect your fathers soldiers, can you stop that thing?”

Noctis looks to her, sees the grim line of her face and nods. 

“Yeah,” he says, feeling the magic running through his veins, “Leave it to me.”

“Go take that thing down then,” Azura commands and sinks to her knees, “I’ll make sure they survive.” The mage digs her hands into the soil and Noctis takes a moment to watch as a single blue lily between where her hands dig into the ground.

A burst of light, white and bright as crystal shimmers over the remaining Glaives, healing them even as a shield of sparkling light encases the battlefield.

“Noctis,” Azura’s tone is sharp and Noctis doesn’t need to be reminded to go.

* * *

Luche is pissed off, his Captain had ordered a retreat and Nyx, predictable asshole he is, decided to ignore that order. So while Tredd hauls Crowe away Luche himself is running toward the giant daemon trying to get his men safely away. Because as much as he and Nyx clash Nyx is still one of Luche’s men, Luche is still responsible for the asshole and he’ll be damned if he leaves one of his best out to die.

If a part of him thinks that he owes Nyx for all the time he’s pulled others out of the fire then no one needs to know. And if a part of him still thinks of Nyx as family because of all they’ve been through together then no one needs to know that either.

Luche finds Nyx clutching his side and kneeling behind a pillar and Luche’s heart stops.

No, Luche thinks as rushes over to one of his best soldiers.

No.

Nyx looks up at Luche, and smiles, cocky and accepting at the same time.

“Hey, Commander,” Nyx says as Luche kneels next to him and hauls Nyx to his feet. With Nyx’s weight solidly resting on Luche, Nyx laughs. “I’ll only slow you down.”

“Shut it Ulric,” Luche snaps, his mind running through various scenarios on how to get the both of them out alive, “I’m not about to leave you here.”

You don’t deserve to die like that, goes unsaid.

Nyx opens his mouth, to argue, to be the self sacrificing asshole he always is when a light, glowing white and weightless dances over their skin. For a moment, it blots out the sky and Luche feels a tinge of fear before the light fades as quickly as it appeared.

In it’s wake, it leaves a shield, a wall between them and their enemies.

“What the hell?” Nyx asks and pushes away from Luche to stand on his own, a feat he wasn’t capable of seconds ago, “Was that?”

* * *

Azura closes her eyes, listening to the wounded cries of the planet beneath her feet. Listening to the wind howl a war song in her ears. She feels the push and pull of the tides on the shore, the way the sun dances through leaves and warms the earth she walks on. Azura closes her eyes and let’s her magic, magic she had never thought she would use again, weave its spell around the battlefield.

She is a healer after all, it is her job to not only provide solace, but to protect. And though she hears and feels the shifting of earth as someone approaches her she does not open her eyes. For while the man beside her may have thought to kill her in a different world he will not touch her here. Not when she is protecting his men.

In the distance, Azura can feel the clouds part as the large daemon Noctis is taking care of howls in pain. She opens her eyes, and between her hands, sprouting from the dirt are three red lilies.

She smiles and the lilies emit a brief glow before they wither and a brilliant red lily appears over the battlefield, a glow spreading from the centre of it outward to all corners of the battlefield. The Protect he had cast around one side of the battlefield doesn’t shatter as in a last cry of defiance the weapon shoots it’s final attack directly at the shield.

Azura throws her head back and laughs as the blood lily bursts and takes with it the airships that hovered over the battlefield.

The ships fall, and Azura doesn’t flinch as their carcasses crash and break against her shield.

* * *

Noctis looks to the sky, the corpse of a weapon that would have destroyed his city laying broken at his feet.

He laughs, disbelief and awe warring within him as he sees Azura take down the Imperial airships.

“That a girl,” he says, and turns his attention to the rest of the daemons around him. His armiger spins, delicate and deadly and he wastes no time in carving a path back to Azura and the Glaives.

Noctis is many things, but he isn’t one to chase after a retreating enemy unless he has a reason.

* * *

The feeling of Noctis’ magic, a deep endless blue; vast and mighty as an ocean, gently pushes against Azura’s shield and she relents. Allowing Noctis to enter and the earth under her feet sings as he approaches.

 _Beloved King,_ the earth croons, _King of Dawn, Prince of Strife. Lord of Light and Sun. Our King. Our Beloved_.

Azura smiles, at those titles laid upon her friend even as grief makes itself known in her heart. What had Noctis gone through since their departure? What is Azura missing? What has he lost? Who could he save? Azura doesn’t know, but she would like to find out.

The sound of a warp causes her to glance up at the towering man next to her even as Noctis makes his presence known. 

“I’ve yet to make myself a threat, and as long as Noctis breathes I will not be one. Make sure he’s alright will you?” Azura’s voice is steel despite her soft demeanor and the large man in red twitches when she speaks.

“I imagine you’ll be here when I return with the Prince then?”

“Of course.” Azura smiles. “Unless something happens, I’ve no reason to take down this shield.” It’s a lie, the strain of keeping up a shield such as this for so long is making itself known in the way her hands shake; in the weakness she can feel in her legs. But she will hold if she must, she has to.

The man gives her a look that is both judging and suspicious and spins on his heel as the sound of running footsteps approach them.

“Prince Noctis,” the man greets and sounds angry, “I suppose you have an explanation for the fact you’ve been missing for the past three months?”

“Uh,” Noctis says, “I went- No, yeah, I was…busy.”

Azura snorts. And grins up at Noctis when he glares past the tall man and down at her.

“Busy, busy princeling,” she chortles to distract herself from the pain welling up inside her, “Running around, ruining mechs.”

“Shut up Azura,” Noctis says and Azura catches the grateful look he shoots her, “You make it sound like getting kidnapped is easy.”

“Isn’t it?” she teases and takes note of how the man between them tenses, “I thought that was all you did, get kidnapped by angry Imperials and Gods.”

“I hate you,” Noctis says but there’s no heat behind it as he smiles at her. It’s then as he truly looks at her does Azura notice the slight narrow of his eyes and the downturn of his lips. “Azura,” he says and there’s steel behind his voice, it’s the voice of a King, “Drop the shield. The Nifs have retreated, there’s no need for it anymore.”

“If I drop it, Noct, I won’t be able to put it back up for a while yet,” Azura warns even as her arms shake.

“I suppose it’s a good thing I haven’t strained myself too terribly yet,” Noctis says, “If push comes to shove I can still fight. Take down the shield Azura, it’s safe.”

Safe Noctis says, and Azura thinks of how she had thought Rhalgr’s Reach was safe, she thinks of how she thought that Ishgard was safe, how she thought she could trust those in Ul’dah and the maid in Falcon’s Nest. Azura thinks of all the places she thought was safe but suffered in anyway and when she looks up at Noctis and into his eyes she sees the dark blue of night before dawn.

 _Lightbringer,_ the earth beneath her whispers, _Tamer of Night. Safe._

Azura quirks a grin and drops the shield. A sigh of relief escaping her as the tension eases out of her body to be replaced by a burning ache.

“Urgh,” she says and staggers to her feet, “Noctis, I am going to tell you this once, I’d rather be healing than holding up a barrier that large.”

Noctis laughs but it’s strained. “Yeah,” he says, “I imagine everyone in my family feels that way too.”

Azura frowns, her eyes going to Noctis as she remembers what he told her about his family. “Speaking of your family, since I am in fact a trained healer, when we get back to wherever we’re going and meet your Dad, do you want me to treat him? If they let me that is.”

Noctis looks at Azura, as though he’s shocked she even suggested it. “You mean like that time when-” he stops, acutely aware of their audience and Azura nods.

“Yeah,” she says, “Like that. If I can ease someone else’s pain I have a duty to do so.”

“A doctor’s oath then?” Comes the question from the man beside then and Azura can’t not notice the tension in Noctis’ shoulders when the man speaks.

“Something like that,” Azura answers and walks over to Noctis, reaching out with her magic to evaluate the man’s condition.

Bruised ribs, she notes and scowls up at Noctis when she stops in front of him. He blinks down at her, surprised, and she reaches up to flick his forehead.

“Idiot,” she scolds, “You should have told me you were in pain!”

“You just held up a shield without even a catalyst!” Noctis shoots back, “I don’t want you straining yourself more by trying to heal.”

Azura scoffs. “I know my limits better than anyone else,” she says, holding a hand up and letting it hover over Noctis’ ribcage. A soft green glow emits from her hand and the remaining tension eases out of his body. “Idiot Prince,” she murmurs, “You need to take better care of yourself.”

“I must agree with your healer on that,” The other man speaks again after watching the other two interact, “You needn’t be so- reckless.”

“Yeah,” Noctis laughs, “I suppose that’s Nyx’s job, eh Drautos?”

“Indeed,” Drautos says again with a tired sigh that says he’s rather fond of this Nyx, “I’d rather only deal with one reckless man rather than two.”

“Pity the commander that deals with a squadron full,” Azura says lightly as she remembers commanding her own squad of utterly reckless morons for the Twin Adder, “They eventually to calculate their recklessness though, or so I’ve heard.” She lets the glow fade from her hand and lets it fall to the side. “Be more careful Noctis. I’m certain you have people who care for you.”

“Yeah, guess I do.”

“Not to break this up,” Drautos says, “But I believe we should head back to the camp, and if Lady Azura could heal some of our wounded if she’s able I would be grateful.”

Azura perks up at the mention of wounded. “Of course,” she says and there’s a worried shine in her eyes, “Lead the way, I’ll do what I can for your men. Though I have to say, the area wide healing spell I sent out earlier should have patched them up quite well, but if I missed anyone, or if anyone else got wounded I’ll do what I can.”

* * *

Their Captain comes back with the Prince, and Nyx feels a wave of relief and anger slam into him as he looks at the Prince. The Prince who he had trained, the Prince who he would willingly give his life for. The Prince who had gone missing, who had been presumed dead and caused their King such grief.

Noctis who is like a little brother Nyx had never wanted. Noctis who Nyx thought he had lost.

And Noctis who is there with their Captain, a woman no one knows beside them.

“Can you tell me where your wounded are?” the woman asks Titus, “I’ll see if my spell has affected them and if not I’ll do what I can for their wounds.”

“To the left,” Titus says, “There sound be a an intact room with a curtain for a door, our wounded are beyond it. Luche!” The Captain calls and Luche breaks away from where he’s watching with Tredd to go see their Captain. “Show Azura here where the wounded are, let her do what she sees fit.”

“Captain?” Luche questions.

“She brought our Prince back and healed him, hell, her shield is what saved our asses-” There’s a murmur from the Glaives at that, “-We can trust her.”

“Of course,” Luche salutes and turns his attention to the brown haired woman with startlingly blue eyes. “Follow me, if you would.”

The woman nods, and the two set off.

“Nyx,” Titus turns to the soldier, “You’re to guard the Prince, even through he managed to take care of that large daemon for us I don’t believe that the attempts on his life are quite done.” With that the Captain of the Kingsglaive turns on his heel and walks off to their makeshift command center.

“Prince Noctis,” Nyx calls and gets the satisfaction of seeing Noctis cringe at the tone in his voice, “We meet again, huh?”

“Yeah,” Noctis says looking sheepish and guilty as he stares at Nyx, “I guess we do.”


	2. walk in the light

Luche watches her. Watches the woman that had brought their Prince back to them. He watches as Azura - the name he had been given - looks over each and every one of the wounded Glaives. Luche watches her, and cannot help but think there is something familiar about the woman in front of him.

Her eyes, Luche thinks, the shape of her face. 

They remind him of his mother.

* * *

Luche had a sister once. He had a sister that lived with him for two years while their mother worked and worked and worked to keep a roof over their head.

Luche had a sister once, her name was Azem and she had the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen. He remembers he as she clung to his pants while he and Tredd did their chores. He remembers Azem's laughter being joyful and loud.

He remembers the gold light that emitted from her hands and how their mother had paled in fear. He remembers how his mother had given Azem up after that, no matter how hard Luche begged to keep his sister. Luche remembers the day he came home and found his sister gone, found out that his mother had given Azem up for adoption.

Luche stares at the gold light that comes from Azura's hands, and cannot help but know that she's his sister.

* * *

Azura has lived. She has lived and died more times than she cares to think about; she may not have the memories of all her lives, those lives shattered and lost to time but she remembers this one. She remembers a life where she had grown up loved for and cared for until Galahd had fallen. Until she had woken in the ruined streets of the Capital with lightning marring the brown skin of her back, the scars a mark on skin previously unblemished.

Azura has lived. She has lived and died from her desire to help others. While she had known that her magic, the sheer variety of it, the way she uses it to heal and harm in equal measure, would make her a target for each nation of this world she had donned the hood and mask of those she had killed and went about healing.

Lady of Dawn, the people had begun to call her. Her exploits gaining notoriety throughout Lucis despite the fact she had been based solely in Galahd for years doing what she could to help her land, her people to heal. 

Her name had come about because she only appeared at dawn, dressed in a beaked mask and a grey robe. She healed any who desired it, any who wished to be healed was healed. She was loved for it, she was hated for it. Some calling her a coward for not fighting but Azura has fought too many times in her lives to want to raise a sword again. She has fought for too long to wish to raise a sword to do anything other than protect.

Azura has precious few things to protect. But when a Goddess comes to her, a Goddess with a shrill laugh and talons, a Goddess she has defeated countless times by now, when Garuda comes to Azura and asks Azura to help Noctis Azura cannot deny her.

Noctis had been a friend once, in a life past, Noctis had been a friend, and Azura has always answered the call of those she called friend. And she had found herself on a battlefield, had found her aether curling protectively around the new but familiar magic gifted to her by Noctis. Magic that had gone dormant when Noctis had left.

Magic she hadn’t though to feel again.

But she has it again, and when she sees Noctis something in her leaps with joy. 

Now Azura is healing the Glaives in a medical tent set up so that they at least have some protection. She finds most of the Glaive wary, unsure what to make of her as she inspects the wounds that her earlier spell hadn’t been able to heal fully.

There is one man, Sonitus is his name, that she had tended to first. He had been split open from shoulder to rib and Azura knows in her gut that had it not been for her earlier spell he would have died from that wound and the infection it carried. He had been the patient they had been almost unwilling to let her see, saying that he was contagious.

Azura is stubborn, and with Luche’s reassurances, she had stepped forward and pressed her magic against the wound and the darkness in it. The white glow of her magic nothing like the golden gold of the Oracles but just as effective against the Scourge. Azura had watched as the dark veins on his face, stark against the sick grey of his skin, faded. She had watched as his face regained color as her magic burned away each and every trace of the Scourge in him. Behind her, she can Luche demand why Sonitus wasn’t moved away from the others to which someone responds that they hadn’t the time or strength to do so.

Azura makes a note to look over everyone in that tent to make sure they are Scourge free as she lifts her hands away from Sonitus and casts another spell to make sure that she didn’t miss anything.

Wound on his chest? Healed.

Broken rib? Healed.

Scourge infection? Gone.

She nods, pleased with her work and turns to face a stunned Luche.

“Where’s the next one?” She asks.

* * *

Luche stares and where he a lesser man, his mouth would be open like the rest of his Glaives. Sonitus had been infected with the Starscourge, had been fated to die horribly and yet here he is, looking as though he is merely sleeping like he does in the vans on the way to battle. There are no overt signs of the Scourge on Sonitus’ body, no signs of the thick black veins that had crept up his face and his skin had lost it’s ghastly pallor.

He looks at his sister -because who else could she be?- and Azura looks terribly pleased with herself.

“May I look over the others?” she asks, blue eyes glowing, “I would like to see if there is anything I can do for them.”

“If they consent.” Luche’s mouth is dry as he speaks. “If they wish for your healing they may have it.”

* * *

They stare at each other, Nyx and Noctis. The two stare at each other as though weighing what to do next, as though debating what to say to someone they haven’t seen in ages.

Noctis sighs. “Nyx I’m-” Noctis pauses. “-I’m sorry. I’m sorry I disappeared and I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“Where were you?” Nyx’s laugh is dry and weary. “We looked everywhere for you. The Kingdom was in chaos. King Regis almost ordered us to march on Niflheim because he thought they had you. What happened Noctis? Why did you leave?”

“I never meant to leave,” Noctis says, “Believe me, I would never willingly leave my father or kingdom.”

“I know that, kid,” Nyx says, “But the fact remains you did, how are you going to explain this to the King?”

“I don’t know,” Noctis admits, “I don’t know.”

* * *

Azura steps out of the medic's tent, exhausted and nearly out of mana but grinning as she skips her way over to where Noctis is talking to someone. Luche follows behind her and Azura wonders if she's been assigned a guard dog.

"Hey Noct," Azura calls out and links her arms with his even as he rolls his eyes fondly, "What are we doing next?"

"Going to Insomnia," Noctis says, a light grimace on his face, "You up for a ride?"

Azura grins. "When am I not?"

Noctis laughs. "You have a point there," he admits, "Azura, this is Nyx, Nyx, this is Azura. She's a friend."

Nyx looks at her critically.

Azura's smile turns sharp.

Nyx raises a brow and looks over to Luche who only nods.

"Well then," Nyx says, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Welcome to the family, Azura. I hope you don't mind chaos."

Azura's eyes glint in the light.

"Please," she says, "I was born in it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a short chapter so you know this isn't abandoned. next chapter we have....regis, clarus, cor! the bros. Moar Titus who is a good guy in this actually. Luche having more panicky feels.


End file.
